Two months before the big election, Averof Neophytou, Andreas Mavroyiannis and Nikos Christodoulides went prepared and had a relatively easy evening, since the structure of the debate and its all-encompassing subject matter did not lead to an exhaustive discussion of any topic and allowed the interviewees to avoid some questions.
In any case, however, the second teleconference is considered better than the first one on 3 November last year. It was livelier, perhaps because the three gladiators had caught a cold, were more prepared and appeared more confident. Another inherent weakness of the tele-match is that each journalist asks his or her own questions, without any consultation with the other journalist, in order to put pressure on the guest politicians on an issue.
Christodoulides went with documents
The first news of the evening came from Nikos Christodoulides, who from the result shows that he went prepared in order to definitively close the allegation of a "secret deal" with DIKO. Nikos Christodoulides gave journalists Emilia Kenevezou (Alpha), Sotiris Paroutis (Omega), Petra Argyrou (Sigma) and Kyriakos Pomiloridis (Ant1) the letters dated 27-5-22, which he sent to the parties that had not decided by then who they would support in the presidential elections. As he said, he first presented his positions to them and then adopted some of them, which he considered to be correct. "After I completed the meetings, they also sent me written positions on the basis of the issues we discussed," he said and handed over the DIKO document dated June 21, 2022. "I have nothing to hide," he stressed. Nikos Christodoulides even made the claim that at that time Averof Neophytou was seeking cooperation with other parties and even promised a 50:50 power-sharing in order to secure their support.
The plan B
Averof Neophytou replied that he had no official meeting with DIKO and did not follow up on the issue. When asked about the discussions he had with the President of the Republic last December on the issue of running for the presidential election, he basically admitted that a Plan B was on the table, which provided for the withdrawal of his candidacy in case there was a problem in achieving cooperation with other parties. Neophytou said that cooperation would be based in principle on DISY's election programme. But he did not want to follow up on the issue, which he raised in the first debate, accusing Nicos Christodoulides of lying that the President had prepared a draft statement on the matter. "These things have been clarified," Neophytou said, referring to the interview President Anastasiades gave to journalist Yannis Kareklas in Sigma.
Averof's resignation and elections
The third news came again from Averof Neophytou, who clearly stated that in the scenario of his exclusion from the second round, he will resign as president of DISY, call an extraordinary electoral congress and seek a renewal of the mandate from the party's base. "I ran in the elections to win them," Averof Neophytou initially said when asked if he would resign if he did not make it to the second round. He added: "I am a political being. I have decency, if I am not elected I will appeal to the party members and ask for a renewal of the mandate, I will respect the decision of 52 thousand members. I will go to an electoral congress."
Petridis remains Minister of Finance
Averof Neophytou gave another news, revealing that the Finance Minister of his government, if elected President, will be the current Finance Minister, Constantinos Petridis. "Averoff has a clear opinion and knows his partners," he said, throwing down the gauntlet to his running mates to name some of the names of their partners with whom they would govern. "I hope he doesn't want me to tell him the names of the DISY officials who will be in my government," was Nikos Christodoulides' response, a reference that annoyed Averof Neophytou, who said there would be no defectors from DISY.
Mavroyiannis goes home
The debate caused the annoyance of Andreas Mavroyiannis, who complained that it is not a political debate that people are interested in the internal party politics of two alarms and bickering. Andreas Mavroyiannis also gave a news flash in the debate, as he revealed that if he does not qualify for the second round, he will not take a public position in favour of someone. "I don't think it's right to influence a large portion of voters," he said. "I will not tell voters what to do. I don't consider an independent candidate to have a bag of votes," he said. When asked where the next election day would find him if he was unsuccessful, he said, "It will find me at home." He said he is not going to get involved in politics and that he has many things he wants to do. On the same subject, Nikos Christodoulides said that the next day will find him in the presidency, should the people honour him with their vote. Otherwise he will look for a job in the private sector. "If I wanted to secure the future of Nikos Christodoulides, I could do it," he said: "However, I do not want to become either a mayor or a member of the European Parliament," he said, blaming the "secret deal" with DIKO.
Mavroyiannis' annoyance
Apart from the moment he criticized Averof Neophytou and Nikos Christodoulides for "cockfighting" over DISY's internal affairs, Andreas Mavroyiannis had a tense moment with journalist Kyriakos Pomiloridis, who asked him about his and AKEL's different narrative on what happened in Crans-Montana. "Don't you think this joke has gone too far?" said Mavroyiannis to Pomilorides in a heated tone. The Ant1 journalist insisted on whether Mavroyiannis thinks the difference is insignificant for such a serious issue and the candidate closed the debate.
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